Rush rally for 54-51 playoff victory

Drop Vigilantes for 3rd time this season to advance to conference final

July 29, 2011|By Jack McCarthy, Special to the Tribune

J.J. Raterink simply was hoping for a chance Friday night with the Rush down 10 points with about 4 1/2 minutes to play.

The Rush quarterback ended up with two opportunities and responded with a pair of touchdown strikes as the Rush rallied for a 54-51 Arena Football League first round victory over Dallas before a crowd of 4,489 at Allstate Arena.

"You realize you can only dictate so much," Raterink said. "You know the time's winding down and unless you get the ball or something happens the clocks going out on you."

Trailing the Vigilantes 51-41, Raterink hit Charles Dillon on a 5-yard touchdown pass to climb to within three points with 4 minutes, 24 seconds showing.

Kicker Chris Gould then lined a kickoff that the Vigilantes mishandled and Shantone Powers, playing his first Rush game, recovered at the Rush 12.

Raterink then fired a 37-yard bomb to Derrick Lee that was just short of the end zone. But Lee took care of the final yardage, diving over the line for the go-ahead score with 3:46 left.

"The mindset was maybe to take some time, but it didn't work out that way," Raterink said. "Then we put it in the defense's hands and once again they came through for us."

The Vigilantes marched down to the Rush 5, but quarterback Dan Raudabaugh was unsuccessful on three pass attempts, including a fourth-down try to Tiger Jones against the wall in double coverage with 52 seconds to go.

"I believed we were going to win this game," Rush coach Bob McMillen said. "I knew at some point in time, something was going to go our way. … I believe our defense was going to make a stop, something on special teams, we were going to do something special."

Now 14-5 overall, the Rush meet either Arizona or Spokane in next week's AFL semifinals.

Raterink was 23 of 31 for 287 yards and six touchdowns.

He also rushed for one. Dillon and Reggie Gray each had a pair of touchdown receptions.

Raudabaugh went 25 of 36 for 256 yards and six touchdowns, including three to Jones.

Rush defensive back Vic Hall returned to the starting lineup after missing the last four games. He had a team-high 10 solo tackles, plus one assist.